20 Indian Memes That Nearly Broke The Internet In 2016

Meme in India.

Richard Dawkins coined the word "meme" in his 1976 bestseller The Selfish Gene. At the time, he probably did not know that some day his coinage will become a part of daily vocabulary across the globe.

If you aren't in sync with Internet culture, memes refer to jokes, urban legends, videos, funny pictures or contagious music that go viral online, becoming a part of the millennial consciousness. Memes hugely influence modern language and culture.

And we Indians have pretty much nailed it.

Here's a list of those who gave us some crackling desi memes in 2016.

1. Baba Ramdev.

The India Today newsweekly showed Ramdev in a yoga posture that would best be described as bending over and facing the camera with his head upside down and between his legs. Yes, exactly.

"Books like Lord Of The Rings (LOTR) and Harry Potter as part of the syllabus is a great move because it cultivates imagination and creativity at a young age. They should include books like Little Women, as it encourages respect towards women at a young age. Even a book like Animal Farm can teach the little ones to love and care for animals."

While Shetty's heart was in the right place when she made the comment, the fact that she held up Animal Farm -- a 1945 dystopian novella by George Orwell, counted as among the finest examples of political satire -- an example of children's literature, was enough for Twitter hounds to smell blood.

You cannot NOT have Modi become a meme twice.

In a photograph taken at an event at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi -- little aware that he is about to become meme material again -- is seen sitting with arms folded, looking down somberly, as if avoiding eye contact with the host of dignitaries sitting across from him.

12. Harambe.

Harambe, a 17-year-old lowland gorilla who was shot and killed by a Cincinnati Zoo worker to save a small child who had wandered into its enclosure, is long dead, unlike his memes.

Over the months, the gorilla's death has evolved from a tragedy to a perfect meme. Harambe memes have flooded the Internet, even prompting the Cincinnati Zoo, a prime target, to delete their social media accounts because of the unending barrage of jokes around the gorilla.

13. Pokémon.

The augmented reality-based game lets users seek Pokémon in real life. You might find a Pokémon in your cab or on the road. The app has attained #1 position in the App Store and Play Store, with the whole world losing their s**t over it.

15. Pahlaj Nihalani.

The Internet erupted after the head of Central Board of Film Certification of India (CBFC), Pahlaj Nihalani gave The Jungle Book a U/A certificate for being "scary" for kids. Nihalani said that the 3D effects were "scary" because the "animals seem to jump right at the audience."

A photo posted by All India Bakchod (@allindiabakchod) on Apr 7, 2016 at 9:09am PDT

16. Chatur.

Okay, this was pretty random. There's no history to the surfacing of this meme. It just happened. The meme features Chatur Ramalingam or Silencer, played by Omi Vaidya in the Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots.

The image is from the film's intense 'terrace' sequence where Chatur challenges Aamir Khan to make a more successful career than him in the next ten years.

Shame on those people who have been having a go at anushka for the longest time and connecting every negative thing to her. Shame on those people calling themselves educated. Shame on blaming and making fun of her when she has no control over what i do with my sport. If anything she has only motivated and given me more positivity. This was long time coming. Shame on these people that hide and take a dig. And idont need any respect for this post. Have some compassion and respect her. Think of how your sister or girlfriend or wife would feel if someone trolled them and very conveniently rubbished them in public. #nocompassion#nocommonsense

Twitter India revealed that Kohli's viral tweet is the most retweeted tweet of 2016, getting over 39,700 retweets and over 100,000 likes.

19. National Anthem.

The National Anthem must be played before movie screening in cinema halls across the country while the national flag appears on the screen, and everyone must stand when it is played, ruled the Supreme Court of India.

SC orders National Anthem should be played in all cinema halls across the country before movie starts,accompanied by national flag on screen